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Poll shows support for Hamas surging in Palestinian Authority after October 7th invasion

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More than four-fifths of Arabs in Judea and Samaria support Hamas invasion of Israel, just 5% acknowledge Hamas committed war crimes.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Support for the Hamas terror organization is on the rise in both the Palestinian Authority and in the Gaza Strip, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, surveyed 1,231 Palestinian Arabs in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip from November 22nd, to December 2nd, and focused primarily on the October 7th invasion and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas sparked by the invasion.

According to the poll, Hamas made marginal gains in popularity in the Gaza Strip, where it is the most favored faction of 42% of residents, compared to 38% in September.

Fatah, the ruling faction in Ramallah, is preferred by just 18% of Gazans, down from 25% in September.

In Judea and Samaria, however, the rise in support for Hamas was far more dramatic, surging from just 12% in September to 44% in December, while support for Fatah sank from 26% to 16% over the same period.

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More than nine-out-of-ten (92%) Arabs in Judea and Samaria say Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas should resign, up from 78% in September; while 81% of Gazans also believe Abbas should resign, up from 79% in September.

The vast majority of Palestinian Arabs say they support Hamas’ October 7th invasion of Israel, which resulted in the massacre of over 1,200 Israelis – the vast majority of them civilians.

In Judea and Samaria, 82% of respondents said the invasion was the “correct” decision, compared to just 12% who said it was “incorrect.”

In Gaza, 57% said the invasion was the “correct” decision, compared to 37% who said it was “incorrect.” Seventy-two percent of all Palestinians endorsed the invasion, compared to 22% who said it was “incorrect.”

While over a third of Gazans said the decision to invade Israel was “incorrect,” far fewer Gazans said they believe Hamsa committed war crimes in Israel.

Just 17% of Gazans acknowledged terrorists committed war crimes against Israelis on October 7th, compared to 5% of Arabs in Judea and Samaria. Combined, just 10% of Palestinians believe Hamas committed war crimes on October 7th.

By comparison, Palestinians in both areas were virtually unanimous in believing Israel has committed war crimes in its military response to the October 7th invasion.

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Ninety-seven percent of Gazans, 94% of Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and 95% of all Palestinians say they believe Israel has committed war crimes in the current war against Hamas.

If new elections were held today for leadership of the Palestinian Authority, the Hamas candidate, Ismail Haniyeh, would win in the Gaza Strip with 49%, compared to 35% for Marwan Barghouti, a member of Fatah and a terrorist mastermind jailed for the murder of Israelis in a series of suicide bombings.

Barghouti leads in Judea and Samaria with 55% to Haniyeh’s 39%, though the combined results point to a statistical dead-heat of 43% to 47%, in favor of Barghouti.